The Effect of Child Gender on Teachers' Responses to Oppositional Defiant Disorder

Abstract

This study investigated whether child gender influences teachers' responses to oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). Teachers (N = 145) read a vignette describing a fictional child's oppositional behavior. Two forms of the vignette were administered, identical with the exception of child gender, and included ODD symptoms descriptive of both boys and girls. Child gender did not affect teachers' ratings of disruptiveness or severity, or most responses to oppositional behavior. Teachers were more likely to have had actual oppositional boys than girls in their classes, and were more likely to refer the vignette student if they had referred a similar student in the past. The potential roles of gendered symptom expression, comorbidity, and recent changes in school referral procedures are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• gender bias
• oppositional defiant disorder
• teacher referrals

Notes

Note. The Severity and Disruptiveness of behavior items are based on 4-point scales. All other items are based on 5-point scales.

*p < .05.